Today in Music History for May 6:
In 1859, John Bayley conducted the Victoria Philharmonic Society in the first concert given in what now is the British Columbia capital. Bayley also is reported to have played a clarinet solo that was "enthusiastically encored."
In 1918, Canadian composer and teacher Godfrey Ridout was born in Toronto. During his association with the University of Toronto's Faculty of Music from 1948 until his retirement in 1982, he guided some of Canada's most famous musicians. As a composer, Ridout is best remembered for his orchestral pieces, including "Music For a Young Prince," commissioned for the 1959 opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway and composed with Prince Charles in mind. Ridout died in 1984.
In 1942, Irving Berlin's song "White Christmas" was published.
In 1965, Keith Richards, fooling around in a Clearwater, Fla., motel room, came up with the guitar riff which would form the basis of "The Rolling Stones'" "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction."
In 1971, Ike and Tina Turner received their only gold single, for their version of "Proud Mary."
In 1973, Paul Simon began his first solo tour in Boston, three years after splitting up with Art Garfunkel. Some of the shows were recorded and selections released on the following year's "Live Rhymin'" album.
In 1973, Sir Ernest MacMillan, considered the most influential Canadian musician of his time, died in Toronto at age 79. His worldwide fame began to grow after he was appointed conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1931. He held that position for 25 years, and also conducted the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir for 14 years. He championed Canadian composers, particularly after he began his 22-year tenure as head of the Composers, Authors and Publishers Association of Canada in 1947. MacMillan was knighted in 1935 for his services to music in Canada, the first musician outside the United Kingdom to be so honoured.
In 1977, "Led Zeppelin" broke their own world record for largest audience at a single-act concert when they attracted over 76,000 fans to the Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich. (On New Years' Eve 1994, Rod Stewart established the new benchmark when he attracted 3.5 million people at the Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janiero.)
In 1979, the formation of an organization called Musicians for Safe Energy -- MUSE for short -- was announced by Jackson Browne, John Hall and Graham Nash. Headed by a 13-member board, MUSE announced plans for benefit concerts.
In 1982, Tom Paton, a former manager of "The Bay City Rollers," was sentenced in Edinburgh, Scotland, to three years in jail for a series of sexual liaisons with teenage boys.
In 1983, Danish jazz trombonist Kai Winding died at age 60. His quintet with fellow trombonist J.J. Johnson was one of the most popular jazz groups of the 1950s. In 1963, Winding's version of "More," the theme from the film "Mondo Cane" was a top-10 hit.
In 1984, Tina Turner released her comeback hit "What's Love Got to Do With It." The song went to No. 1, won Grammys for record and song of the year, and established Turner as a major solo star.
In 1987, Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer, a native of Sarnia, Ont., was awarded the first Glenn Gould Prize, a $50,000 award for contributions to music and its communication. There were 35 nominees from 22 countries for the prize, in honour of the world famous Toronto pianist who died in 1982 at age 50.
In 1989, officials in Baton Rouge, La., seized an airplane belonging to country star Hank Williams Jr. after he aborted a concert. Williams cursed the audience, threw a fiddle to the floor and left the stage after about 20 minutes. The plane was released after his company wired $65,000 to the concert promoters. Williams performed a makeup concert two weeks later, apologized and claimed someone had slipped him some drugs.
In 1991, a judge in Macon, Ga., threw out a suit claiming that Ozzy Osbourne's music drove a 16-year-old boy to suicide. Michael Waller's parents sued Osbourne for $9 million, claiming their son shot himself after listening repeatedly to Osbourne's "Suicide Solution."
In 1992, Bruce Springsteen unveiled his new band at a surprise show at the Bottom Line in New York. The only holdover from the "E-Street Band" was keyboardist Roy Bittan. The four-piece group backed Springsteen on "Saturday Night Live" three nights later. "The Boss" opened his world tour in Stockholm nine days after his New York appearance.
In 1992, screen legend Marlene Dietrich died in Paris at age 90. Her interpretation of the melancholy song "Lili Marlene" is one of the most remembered songs of the Second World War. Dietrich not only sang for the U.S. Army, but recorded songs containing coded messages for American spy teams.
In 1994, Michael English returned four Dove Awards, including one for Artist of the Year, to the Gospel Music Association after revealing he'd had an extramarital affair. English and Marabeth Jordan, another married gospel performer, became involved while touring to raise money to build a home for unwed mothers.
In 1994, "Pearl Jam" filed a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department against Ticketmaster. The band charged that the company had a monopoly on the concert ticket-selling business.
In 1996, "The Tragically Hip" played the first of two surprise club gigs at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern to promote their forthcoming album, "Trouble at the Henhouse." The CD was released to radio the following day and went on sale May 11.
In 1997, Canadian Joni Mitchell failed to show up for her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. She apparently wanted to avoid the media hoopla over her reunion with the daughter she gave up for adoption 32 years earlier. Also a no-show -- Neil Young, who was inducted as a member of the 1960s band "Buffalo Springfield." Young snubbed the rock hall after organizers failed to give him more than one free ticket to the induction dinner.
In 1997, police in a Tokyo suburb arrested Canadian rock legend Rick Danko on a charge of heroin possession. Police said they found less than 28 grams of heroin in a magazine mailed to Danko from the U.S. when they raided his hotel room. Danko, former bassist and vocalist with "The Band," was in Japan for a five-concert tour. He was found guilty and given a suspended sentence.
In 2001, soprano Rita Nellie Hunter, celebrated for almost 40 years in Wagnerian opera roles, died in Sydney, Australia, at age 67.
In 2002, songwriter Otis Blackwell died in Nashville of a heart attack at age 70. The Brooklyn native wrote more than 1,000 songs recorded by performers such as Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Charles, Billy Joel, "The Who," Otis Redding and Peggy Lee. Blackwell's hits included "Great Balls of Fire" and "Breathless," both recorded by Lewis, and Presley's "Return to Sender" and "All Shook Up."
In 2005, "Audioslave" became the first American rock band to play an outdoor concert in Cuba, with a show in Havana.
In 2009, bluesman Taj Mahal and singer Irma Thomas were inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in Memphis.
In 2009, bassist Donald "Ean" Evans of the Southern rock band "Lynyrd Skynyrd" died after a battle with cancer. He was 48. He joined the band after original bassist Leon Wilkeson died in 2001.
In 2010, country music star Taylor Swift donated $500,000 to flood relief in Nashville during the "Flood Relief with Vince Gill and Friends" telethon held on local TV station WSMV. Vince Gill, Keith Urban, Alison Krauss, Naomi Judd were among the artists to perform. More than $1.7 million was raised and went directly to various flood relief organizations in the city rocked by deadly storms and flooding on May 1-3 that killed 30 in three states, including 20 in Tennessee.
In 2010, the Alberta Ballet in Calgary premiered "Love Lies Bleeding," a multi-media show inspired by the music of Elton John and collaborator Bernie Taupin.
In 2011, it was announced that former "Beatle" Paul McCartney and his girlfriend Nancy Shevell were engaged, nearly four years after they were first spotted together. (They were married in October).
In 2013, Grammy-winning singer Lauryn Hill was sentenced in New Jersey to three months in prison for failing to pay about $1 million in taxes.
In 2015, Errol Brown, the lead singer of the band Hot Chocolate best known for hits "You Sexy Thing" and "Every 1's a Winner," died in the Bahamas of liver cancer. He was 71. In 2003, he was honoured by Queen Elizabeth for his services to pop music and made a Member of the Order of the British Empire.
In 2018, Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry, disco queen Gloria Gaynor, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and E Street Band guitarist and "Sopranos" star Steven Van Zandt were among the people inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.
In 2020, the co-founder of the German electronic music group Kraftwerk died after a battle with cancer. Florian Schneider-Esleben was 73. He and Ralf Huetter started working together in 1968, and in 2014 were honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the Grammys. Kraftwerk is considered a pioneering influence in the development of electronic music, as well as hip-hop and rock.
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The Canadian Press